Jharkhand

(8,255 words)

The state of Jharkhand, founded in 2000 from the southern districts of Bihar, includes the Chhotanagpur Plateau and the Santal Parganas. Though a “tribal” state, with the Munda, Santal, Ho, and Oraon as the largest tribal populations, it has a Hindu majority, due to immigration from the plains. The terms “tribe” and “tribal” are used to refer to populations who claim to have a distinct identity from the Hindu castes (see Bates, 1995; Carrin, forthcoming, for a discussion of the term “tribe”; Bha…